LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 21 – An apple a day
“They’re angels, I’m telling you. No human would waste their time looking after the dredge down here!”
- Street Interview with a beggar, 2055
Cassiopaia led us outside and around the plaza and down a different street. Our destination was obvious even from a distance, lots of armed people stood around a rather large building and a long queue of people reached all the way outside. Even from here I could see that it was made up of the injured and sick.
When we approached most of them made way, partly because some gang members waved them aside, partly because they realised we were Samurai.
To my surprise though most of the people looked at us suspiciously, not hostile, but also not quite happy either. Did they think we were trying to stop the operation or something?
With a shake of my head I dismissed the thought, focusing on the place before us. It was quite large, one of those old free standing office buildings if I had to hazard a guess. The interior was much like I expected, a rather roomy entrance hall filled with people, some standing, some sitting, some laying on the ground or cheap plastic stretchers.
There were a multitude of doors leading into various different rooms. The first couple seemed to be reserved for the least injured, and people went in and out quite frequently. They would live to see another day, most could probably even have gone entirely without treatment in a pinch.
Deeper in though I saw some more grievous injuries, the kind you wouldn’t just walk away from. A couple of those doors had free spaces reaching all the way to the doors, fast lanes for the most desperate cases probably.
I nodded at the sight, these people were organised enough and it seemed that at least most of those waiting to be treated followed whatever rules were put in place. In a way I was quite surprised, I couldn’t imagine people in the redlight district to be this disciplined.
Or maybe it was because of the armed gang members or the small turrets hidden away in the corners. Those were obviously cheap protector tech, most likely left here by Blitzer to keep the place safe.
Cassiopaia led us straight through the entrance hall and past most of the other doors. It didn’t take long until I realised that she was leading us to one of the back doors, one of those that was kept free at all times. She was just about to knock when a sound from the side interrupted us, hurried movements and the squeaking of rusty metal wheels.
From the side three people came running close, one of those metal trays usually used to deliver food with them. On it lay a younger girl, and even from a distance it was clear that she was hurt bad.
Without needing to be told Cassiopaia opened the door she stood in front of, obviously the destination of the people hurrying closer, and led them inside. I didn’t waste any time and ran in after, mind already whirling what I could do to help.
From the looks of things the nurse, or nurse equivalent, I really didn’t know about her actual professional education, not that it mattered to me one wit, wanted to protest at first, but once she took me in she stopped herself.
I didn’t pay her any attention and immediately rushed to the girl, giving her a quick once over.
The wounds looked… nasty. She had deep gashes on her chest that were bleeding profusely, one of her ribs visible under the blood which was most certainly not how things were supposed to be. In addition to that she was missing her left leg, a haphazard bandage put around the wound, but it was utterly drenched in blood.
I was wondering how she was even alive still, although from the monitors that the doctor attached her to that wouldn’t last long.
“What’s wrong with her? Kaysa, I need something!”
The doctor looked up, scorn in his eyes at being interrupted, probably already with a rude remark on his lips, and truth be told, I didn’t blame him, but I was a Samurai, I could help more quickly than they could. And the moment the doctor saw my getup he understood immediately.
“She got hit by a model four," he said in a much more calm tone. There was still urgency there, but the collected kind.
“Kaysa!" I ordered, urgency in my tone.
Please calm yourself. We can easily remedy this situation. Let us begin with your nanite swarm, you can set it to disinfectant mode. That way any contaminants won’t enter her system.
I did as I was told, quickly pulling up the menu and setting the nanites to work. A small… I didn’t want to say mist, it was much more a fuzzy cloud, barely visible, leaped from my necklace to the girl’s chest.
Good, now we can start with fixing the more prominent issues. She requires better medical care than the one that they have available here. A machine that could help fix her issues would be 80 points, however if you pay more upfront you will be able to help more people in the future by leaving it here.
“Fuck the costs! Whatever you think is best, I don’t care how much it is!”
Very well, please make room to your right.
New purchase: Class I Medical Utilities Nanite Dispenser!
Points reduced to: 4341
With one quick look I motioned everyone aside, “Aside, quick, please!"
The moment there was room to be had a big machine suddenly appeared. It was bigger than whatever medical devices they had here.
Now take the two tubes hanging off of the machine on the left. The first should have a mask on. Put it on her. The second needs to be placed on her arm, roughly around the inner elbow area.
Again I did as I was told, moving quickly and precisely. Soon her breathing was stabilising a bit, although it still sounded awful.
This will help keep her alive until we are done. Next, on the other side of the machine is another tube, this one with two ends. The first needs to be placed somewhere above her chest, while the other is best placed below the wound.
Grabbing the tube in question I tried my best to place them as Kaysa told me to, even if it was a bit hard with the wound and the clothing in the way. After some fussing I decided to screw it, and with a quick muttering and some careful application of a small Hard-Light blade, I cut open the clothing enough to get better access to the wound. The shirt was ruined anyways, and I don’t think she would mind if it meant she would survive.
The following operation will look a bit gruesome, perhaps you should have the mother look away.
Once I had everything connected I quickly glanced over to Jenna, who immediately nodded to me. With a warm smile she walked over to the mother. “Ma’am, while my friend takes care of your daughter, let us check for your own injuries, hm? I promise that she’ll be right as rain once we’re done.”
Not surprisingly the woman wanted to protest, but with a couple more soothing words Jenna gently escorted her outside, which gave me the opportunity to continue.
When I returned my attention back to the girl, Kaysa spoke up again.
Please take the last tube from the top, and pull it close to the wound and hold it there. It will all look quite unpleasant, but trust that it will help.
I did as I was told and soon some liquid came out of the tube, followed by what looked like a big mechanical spider that plopped out of the tube, into the wound, and then buried deep. In a word it was disgusting and for a moment I was honestly questioning if that was a good idea. But soon enough it emerged again, broken shards of bone in its tiny claws that it gently placed aside, before returning to its gruesome work.
The drone is cleaning up any detritus that might hinder proper healing. Once that is done the wound can be closed.
I tried, and probably failed, to keep a straight face, but after a couple of minutes the mechanical spider was done, climbing back up the tube. It had pulled quite the number of bone fragments out of the wound, which I supposed would have been a problem if they were kept inside.
Good. You can put the big tube away again. On top of the machine should be a big patch connected to an array of lines. Please take it and place it gently over the wound. This process will take some time, but it will rebuild the missing flesh and bone.
Once more I did as I was told and soon things started to go all automatically. I let out a sigh I wasn’t even aware I was holding and slumped.
“Thank you," said the doctor, eyes still a bit wide, “I am not sure how we can repay that.”
“Don’t worry about it. I’m not going to expect payment for something you didn’t ask for. I have a few questions about your work, but that can wait until things are done here.”
He nodded, “Very well. Might I ask your name? I’m afraid I don’t recognise you.”
“I’m not surprised. I’m pretty new, only became a Samurai yesterday. People call me the Crimson Princess, I guess. I’m not sure about the name yet, but might as well, right?”
“Ah," he nodded again, “I’ve heard of you. Well, I have heard of a Samurai going by Princess in the upper city, but I don’t know more. Helped the guards at the gates, I heard.”
I nodded and he continued, “It’s good to have more Samurai around. Blitzer does what he can, but he is the only one we have and spreads himself too thin.”
“Not to disappoint, but my area is the redlight district. I’m here to help, and I will be available in the future if I’m needed, but I can’t promise I’m here all the time.”
“That is fine too, as long as it helps get the pressure off Blitzer. He’s been a Samurai for a couple of weeks now, but with the entire undercity to take care of it’s hard for him to be everywhere at the same time.”
“Maybe Jenna or I can leave some of our minions behind, but that is a discussion for later. For now I’m just glad I could help the girl. Not to bash you, or anything, but this didn’t look like something you could have dealt with easily.”
This time the nurse spoke, eyes haunted, “No, it wasn’t. She wasn’t the only one who came to us in this condition. Most of them, we couldn’t help. Her, we probably would have lost too…”
She was obviously shaken, a slew of bad experiences probably. I smiled at her, “Hey, chin up. Sometimes you can’t help, the important thing is to try. If you try and you fail, then that happens. It’s sad, sure, but that isn’t your fault. You can’t expect to solve everything.”
She shook her head, “I know, but… You guys make it look so easy. If we had a Samurai with the doves then we wouldn’t have these issues! Less dead, less people with permanent injuries, it’s unfair!”
The doctor put a hand on the woman’s shoulder. “Clerisse, please, calm yourself. She isn’t at fault.”
Clerisse slumped, “I know… I’m sorry, I’m just a bit riled up…”
“Hey, it’s okay," I said soothingly, “Nobody can blame you for getting a bit emotional. Maybe sometimes a short break is just what the doctor ordered, hm? Take a deep breath, relax, and once the mind gets calmer you can get back to work.”
She nodded, but didn’t seem too convinced. Which I understood, they probably didn’t have the manpower to be able to take frequent breaks.
Suddenly the machine clicked, then beeped.
It is done. You can now remove the tubes.
With a nod I did, first the patch on the girl’s chest, then the tubes placed next to it, then the one from the arm and finally the mask.
I sent Jenna a quick message via my implants and a moment later she returned with the woman trailing behind her. She of course immediately rushed over to the girl and checked her injuries, not that there was much to see. I hadn’t been able to regrow the leg, but at least she would survive.
A couple of moments later the girl slowly woke up, blinking a couple of times and obviously a bit disoriented.
“Mom…?" she muttered and the mother basically flew over to her, holding her hand and tears in her eyes.
“I’m here honey, I’m here. You’re okay, thank god, you’re okay!”
The girl looked down at herself, then around the room. “Where… Where are we?"
“We’re with the nice doctors that helped you. Everything is fine, sweetie.”
“Doctors…?" then her eyes widened, her gaze snapping to her chest, “The… the wound… the hole… it’s gone?"
“Yes sweetie, it’s all gone.”
Then she saw her leg and her eyes widened even more. She was trembling, probably just short of a panic attack. I figured this was a good moment to step in and distract her a bit.
“Hello," I said cheerfully, “I’m the Crimson Princess, nice to meet you.”
The girl looked at me with wide eyes, conflicting emotions running through her.
“You… You’re a Samurai," she stated, matter of factly.
“That I am. You were pretty badly wounded, how are you feeling?"
“My leg…," she whispered, tears in her eyes, “I can’t feel my leg…”
I smiled at her, “Yes, your leg is missing. But! Fret not! For I am here to help!" I said with energy, hoping to cheer her up a bit.
“Can you give my leg back?" she asked.
“I might not be able to give your old leg back, but I can give you a new one. Say, what would you like, hm? Something shiny, or maybe colourful? Or, oh! I have the perfect idea!”
In the virtual realm I turned to Kaysa’s elven form, unwilling to speak openly to her while the girl was still grappling with her new reality.
“Say, can we get a leg that works similarly to my dress, with colours and stuff? Maybe something that she can use for a long time?”
That is easily doable. Let me put something together.
“Thanks. Ignore the costs, I want this to last a while. We can’t do that for everyone, sure, but she looks like she needs a bit of good news.”
Very well, hold out your hands.
New purchase: Class I Kitsune’s Grace!
Points reduced to: 4271
I did as I was told and a box appeared in my hand. “Tadaa!”
Without much fuss I gingerly handed it to the girl, it wasn’t too heavy so I was sure she could hold it even in her weakened state. She of course opened it, revealing the contents within. Inside was a cybernetic leg that was glistening in different shades of silver.
While she checked it over Kaysa gave me a quick rundown of what the leg could do. She had crammed quite a lot of features into it, which I approved of. Hopefully it would serve her well for a long time.
After a moment I smiled at the girl, “This is a very unique item called the Kitsune’s Grace. As you grow older it will start to grow with you. It also has some very fun little tricks that you can explore over time. I know it’s not the same as getting your old leg back, but I do hope you like it.”
To demonstrate I had the prosthetic run through a couple of colour combinations.
The girl was utterly smitten by the thing, mumbling a quiet thank you as she admired her new leg. Her shock of losing her old one was slowly dissipating, mission successful!
While she looked her new leg over, I took her mother aside. “It has some other features but some are locked behind your say so. I think it’s best you go over all the software together, my AI did an outstanding job of making that thing.”
“Thank you so much," the mother said, still teary eyed, before she gave me a tight hug.
“It’s nothing, that’s what I’m here for," I said, patting her on the back.
After some more heartfelt thanks, especially once the girl had put on the leg and tried it, they both went outside, leaving me with the doctors.
I let out another sigh, then looked at the doctors, “You can have the machine, you can use it more than me. I was also here to drop off some basic meds, whatever you need. If you give me a list I can make it happen. But I also don’t want to keep you too busy, not with all the people outside.”
“That is very kind. Clerisse can tell you what we need," the doctor said and I nodded to him in thanks. He looked like he wanted to say more, but considering the long line of people still waiting he was obviously more focused on getting back to work.
Clerisse left the room with me and soon we had put together a list of things that they could use here, including roughly 400 points worth of meds, another machine like the other one, some smaller medical devices and a few bibs and bobs, all together costing nearly a thousand points. It was steep, sure, but I felt like it was worth it if it kept people alive. Being frugal for future purchases was nice, but this wasn’t the kind of shit I wanted to cheap out on.
Not long after we were on our way outside again, while I sent another Nanite swarm out and through the room to help with surface wounds at least, Maybe that would help to take off the pressure a little bit.
“Okay,” I said when we arrived back outside again, “Step one done. Now to see where those xenos are at.”
Hopefully we could get things done here quickly, although something told me that the next step would be a lot harder.
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Check out Maniacs Mayhem: A Guide to being a Corperate Slave by Lividiea as well as Most (Un)Manly - From Adonis to Anemone by Princess_Kay!
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